There was a heavy pit in Tyron Woodley’s stomach as he sat watching teammates and foes prepare for their season’s pinnacle. As pained as he was, he could only watch.

It was late March 2004, national championship time for college wrestling. Woodley, then a junior for Missouri, was a year removed from becoming the first Tiger to win the Big 12 title at 165 pounds and placing eighth in the 2003 nationals, earning All-American status. But he had watched his record fall from 28 wins as a sophomore to 21 his junior year, as he finished fifth in the conference. The NCAA decided he wasn’t worthy of a wild-card berth to the tournament, so he was relegated to spectator status.